The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Imperial Naval Air Service ** eBook Out Now **

The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Imperial Naval Air Service, published by Pen and Sword Books, is available in hardback and as an e-book, including Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes and Noble’s Nook and Kobo.Through vivid accounts of the air and sea battles that raged across the Pacific the book provides an in-depth history of the Japanese Imperial Naval Air Service and illustrates how the United States re-established its military dominance following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The book, which was originally published posthumously by the author’s son in 2011, has received many notable reviews from publications and organisations around the world, including the Fleet Air Arm Officers Association, which said; “An immensely detailed account of how the Imperial Japanese Government embraced the concept of Air Power and how they developed Naval Aviation from before World War One to the final defeat in 1945. This book is a triumph for Peter Edwards’ son Richard.”

The Warships International Fleet Review said; “The book is a definite must for anyone interested in Japanese aircraft development and I definitely recommended it.” Aviation News said; “New material previously unpublished is included, within an extremely well-written narrative history.”

Other reviews include The Midwest Book Review, which said; “…engrossing history not only recounting the development of Japanese air power—a topic which has not received much attention despite the perennial keen interest in World War II—but also deepening understanding of the nature of the warfare and surrounding political, technical etc matters bearing on it…a distinctive and engaging work filling a gap in any military history.”

The renowned military blog historyofwar.org said; “The book has two main strengths. First is the author’s great knowledge of the individuals behind most developments in the Japanese Imperial Air Service, from the policy makers to the technicians and engineers who designed the aircraft. We thus get a rather more human view of events than is often the case.

The second comes in the second half of the war, as the Americans begin to close in on Japan. Here the rather breathless writing style comes into its own, and we get a feel of a scene of panic and impending doom as new aircraft designs fail to live up to expectations, and the unreal atmosphere in which aircraft projects that couldn’t produce any results before 1946 or 1947 are approved as the Americans close in on the Home Islands.”

By the same author, available in hardback and e-book:

Heroes and Landmarks of British Aviation by Richard and Peter Edwards is published by Pen and Sword Books (Aviation). The book tells the dramatic story of Britain’s aviation industry, from the sweat and grease of the workshop, to the board rooms and government nationalisations that ultimately fashioned its destiny.

The heroes are Britain’s most innovative aviation pioneers and their aircraft, the men and women who persevered to be the first into the air, to fly the fastest, the highest and the furthest.

This broad and highly accessible books ranges from the first man to fly across the English Channel from England to France to the development of the Spitfire and from the disastrous R101 airship to the development of the jet engine and ultimately the world’s first supersonic airliner. Click here to buy your copy.